System for providing ate test programming by utilizing drag-and-drop workflow editing in a time domain environment

ABSTRACT

A drag-and-drop workflow editor in an Automated Test Equipment (ATE) environment to create coherent time domain aligned test programs. This includes graphical interface channel diagrams with channel headers, channel timelines, designer items defining test operations, measurement references and trigger references to define temporal relationships in a time domain environment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of Automated Test Equipment(ATE) test programming. More particularly, the invention relates to ATEsoftware for creating test programs in a drag-and-drop workflow editorrespecting time domain constructs and executing said test programs tocontrol instrument instructions in a coherent time domain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Presently, many ATE Test Program editors are based on sequential programinstructions. In other words, users write computer program instructionsto create and modify test programs that execute in a sequential order.This is often cumbersome for users because the programming interface tomost instrument instructions require in-depth technical knowledge of theinner workings of the underlying test instrument and creation requiresknowledge of a programming language compatible with the test instrument.This also limits the execution of instrument instructions to besequential which will generally result in lengthy execution times andrepeated instrument operations. Modern ATE instruments have added theability to perform multiple operations in parallel. That is, aninstrument may now source different stimuli on multiple channels atonce, or may now make different acquisitions on multiple channels atonce. Traditional test programming languages cannot easily takeadvantage of these features thus limiting the capabilities of the testprogram and ATE systems. Further, test programs can be complex andlengthy. Hence, there is a need to improve test program editors to moreeasily accommodate creation of complex test programs, especially to moreeasily enable multiple instrument operations being executed in parallelwithin a coherent time domain.

The following comprises a glossary of nomenclature used herein:

-   -   ATE Execution Engine—The specific component or capability of an        ATE Test Executive that executes predefined test programs.    -   Automated Test Equipment (ATE)—an apparatus that performs tests        on a device using automation to quickly perform stimuli and        acquisitions and evaluate the results of said stimuli and        acquisitions. The use of ATE includes reference to Automated        Test System (ATS) and other names for like systems that perform        similar testing processes.        -   ATE Test Executive—software that operates as the overall            manager of component systems in an ATE. More specifically,            the test executive enables the creation and configuration of            test programs as well as controls the execution of said test            programs.        -   Coherence—maintaining phase and relationship of signal            stimuli and acquisition.        -   Instrument Capability—A logical ability of an instrument            resource. Generally describes the type of measurement to            make or signal to source, and the associated physical            pins/ports on the instrument.        -   Instrument Configuration Window—A graphical display of the            current operation execution properties, allowing the user to            change those properties and then save the changed properties            for execution at runtime. Instrument configuration windows            allow the execution of the operation with the execution            properties currently displayed in the window.        -   Instrument Operation—The logical instrument action, which            may be a combination of physical instrument actions. That            is, an operation may describe multiple actions which are            performed together to accomplish a task.        -   Instrument Resource—A physical asset contained within the            ATE.        -   IS—Instrument Start.        -   IOL—Instrument Operation Length.        -   T₀—defines when the test timing starts.        -   T_(0+IS)—defines when an instrument operation starts.        -   T_(0+IS+IOL)—defines the end time of an instrument            operation.        -   T_(n)—discrete time instance in time domain with reference            to T₀.        -   Temporally Coherent—Deterministic within the time domain.        -   Test Group—A test group consists of one or more individual            tests.        -   Test Program—A set or collection of test groups.        -   Test Sequence—A series of operations that the user specifies            for execution.        -   Unit Under Test (UUT)—A device or component that is being            tested such as a circuit card or assembly of electronic            components.        -   Interface Test Adapter (ITA)—A customized interface test            adapter, or “fixture” that adapts the ATE's resources to the            UUT.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The system for providing user created test programs for automatic testequipment (ATE), comprises: a graphical interface display responsive toa user's interaction and/or instructions for producing ATE operationinstructions wherein the display includes a plurality of channelsrepresenting coherent time domain timelines; a plurality of first iconsavailable to the user from a plurality thereof representing channelheaders, for application to the graphical display; a plurality of secondicons available to the user from a plurality thereof for application tothe graphical display representing different designer items for variousATE test operations; and a test executive processor responsive to theuser defined graphical display for carrying out selected ATE testoperations in a coherent time domain manner.

The method for providing user created test programs for automatic testequipment (ATE), comprises the steps of: providing a graphical displayresponsive to a user's interaction and/or instructions for producing ATEoperation instructions wherein the display includes a plurality ofchannels representing coherent time domain timelines; providing aplurality of first icons available to the user from a plurality thereofrepresenting channel headers, for application to the graphical display;providing a plurality of second icons available to the user from aplurality thereof for application to the graphical display representingdifferent designer items for various ATE test operations; and processingthe user defined graphical display for carrying out selected ATE testoperations in a coherent time domain manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary screen depiction illustrating how test stationassets, resources and capabilities are arranged in the Test StationAsset Configuration tab within the test executive environment.

FIG. 2 consists of an exemplary screen depiction illustrating a globalchannel in the context of a test program, and another screen depictionillustrating the same global channel in the context of a test.

FIG. 3 is an annotated screen depiction illustrating the detailedconfiguration dialog of a channel header after it has been configured.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen depiction illustrating the different typesof designer items, including instrument and non-instrument specific.

FIG. 5 is an annotated screen depiction illustrating how the channeldiagram, channels, channel headers, channel timelines, triggerreferences, measurement references, and designer items are displayed inthe test executive environment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary screen depiction illustrating the Zoom toolbarbutton and the Time per Division configuration control in the testexecutive environment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen depiction illustrating one implementationof an instrument configuration and control window.

FIG. 8 consists of an exemplary screen depiction illustrating howacquisition-based measurements are displayed in the channel timeline,and another screen depiction illustrating the dialog whereacquisition-based measurements are configured.

FIG. 9 illustrates the flowchart of the algorithm used by the engine toadjust the start time of instrument operations if the elapsed time ofthe currently executed instrument operation exceeds the configuredduration of that instrument operation.

FIG. 10 illustrates the graphical representation of the algorithmdescribed in FIG. 9 in the form of a flowchart.

FIG. 11 illustrates how the test executive engine converts the userconfigured designer items into the underlying instrument operationswhile maintaining the temporal information configured by the user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

ATE test executives present today on the market include instrumentoperations that comprise test programs defined in a pure sequential way.The test executive described herein provides an innovative ATE testprogramming language or technique that allows users to quickly createtest program sets utilizing drag-and-drop workflow editing in a coherenttime domain construct, and a temporally-coherent execution engine thatperforms instrument operations in a time-deterministic manner.

In general, in one aspect, the invention comprises an improved ATE testexecutive program, which provides instrument resource, instrumentcapability, instrument channel, and designer item functionality forsuperior configuration of the desired execution timing of automated testinstrument instructions. Each designer item is coherently aligned in thetime domain. The ATE test executive includes an engine to ensure theprogrammed instrument instructions are executed consistent with thedesired execution timing in a temporally coherent manner.

This improved ATE test executive contains a number of importantinnovations to enable the development of time-coherent test programs byusers with a minimum of programming experience. This test executivedisplays designer items in a graphical manner, allowing the user toconfigure when these operations execute with respect to one another. Thetest executive engine then parses this graphical representation of thetest program to execute the instrument operations in a time-domaindeterministic manner.

The graphical display of this test executive includes aspects of relatedart software test executives and introduces many new concepts. Itcontains new graphical concepts such as channel diagrams, channelheaders, channel timelines, measurement references, trigger references,and temporally aligned designer items.

The execution of test programs by the test executive engine is centralto the additional functionality and innovation provided by this testexecutive. The engine is responsible for ensuring that instrumentoperations begin and end at the times the user has specified. Thisensures instrument operations occur at the same time after a test hasstarted every time the test executes (repeatable). As a result, twoinstrument operations on different channels, and hence potentially usingdifferent instruments, will execute at the same time with respect to theother every time the test executes. Instrument operations can thus besaid to be temporally aligned.

The primary display work area of the test executive editor, whencreating a test program, consists of a channel diagram which containsmultiple channels, each channel further containing a channel headerdescribing the configuration of the channel and a timeline containingthe designer items of the channel.

Channel Headers

Once added to the channel diagram, an instrument channel header isconfigured via a drag-and-drop process from a list of user-configuredATE assets. Each instrument channel is assigned one instrumentcapability. An instrument capability defines the channel type to beconfigured. Only designer items consistent with that channel type maythen be created via drag-and-drop on that channel.

A channel type may restrict valid designer items to a single type ofinstrument operation, or may allow multiple types of designer item.Non-instrument specific designer items may be created on any type ofchannel. For instance, once an analog generation capability has beenassigned to a channel, the only designer item that controls instrumentoperations that may be created upon that channel is the Generatedesigner item in the Analog palette. Non instrument operation designeritems such as those in the User I/O palette, Timing and Triggeringpalette, and Procedures palette are valid and may also be created uponthe channel.

Further, physical instrument ports associated with the selectedinstrument capability may be associated with Unit Under Test (UUT) pins,allowing the user to define a switching path between the two pins.

Channel Timeline

The channel timeline contains the designer items for that channel. Eachchannel timeline on the channel diagram is displayed in a temporallyaligned manner. The user then creates designer items on the channeldiagram via a drag-and-drop process from a toolbox of predefinedoperations.

The timeline contains a grid display to which designer items may belocked. This grid display describes intervals of time to whichinstrument operations may be performed. There is a minimum size of thesedivisions; that is, there is a nominal amount of time to which the testexecutive engine may guarantee the time-coherence of instrumentoperations.

The workflow editor provides standard graph functions such as zoomingand panning. In addition to these graph functions, the divisions of thegrid displayed on the timeline may be zoomed to change the amount oftime each division describes. In one embodiment, the change of divisionsize is accomplished via a list of sizes from a combo-box. The change ofdivision size allows a quick transition between an overview of thechannel timeline with a large division size, and a detailed view ofspecific channels or designer items with a small division size.

Designer Items

A designer item is a graphical representation of an instrument operationor of a generic (non-instrument) operation that is created on thechannel timeline. Designer items are pre-defined based on the configuredATE assets and the capabilities of those assets. Each available designeritem is presented in a toolbox from which the user may drag-and-drop arepresentation of the desired designer item onto a channel timeline.

The position of each designer item on the channel timeline intrinsicallydescribes and displays the start time of the operation associated withthe designer item with respect to the beginning of the test. The lengthof some designer items define the duration of the operation associatedwith that designer item and implicitly the end time of that operation.Examples of operations where the duration has an important role are:analog signal generation, analog waveform acquisition, digital stimulus,and other continuous operations. In contrast to existing test executiveeditors, this places an emphasis on the instant in the time domain atwhich an instrument operation occurs, not simply its position in asequence of instrument operations.

Several generic types of designer items associated with instrumentoperations are defined by the test executive, which are then combinedinto groups, including Analog Operations, Digital Operations, BusOperations, and Switching Operations. Non-instrument operations alsoexist, which perform actions but do not communicate with externalhardware. User Input & Output Operations, and Procedures, are groupswhich contain non-instrument operation designer items.

Non-instrument specific designer items provide the flexibility needed indesigning a complex test in a graphical mode. In a few embodiments thesegeneric designer items represent operations for user interaction,operations that can be customized by the user during test developmentand operations needed in complex structures, such as looping. Also underthis generic, non-instrument specific category fall two designer itemsthat are specific to the parallel design of time-coherence tests: themeasurement reference and the trigger reference, described in detail insubsequent paragraphs.

Each designer item associated with an instrument operation describes alogical instrument action, which may be a combination of physicalinstrument actions. That is, an instrument operation may describemultiple actions which are performed together to accomplish a task. Tofurther enhance the simplicity of configuration the invention embodies,designer items can be configured by the user via the use of aninstrument configuration window.

Each designer item stores the execution properties necessary to performthe associated operation. In one embodiment, these properties may beconfigured by the user via an instrument configuration window.Instrument configuration windows may take many forms and each designeritem may be associated with an instrument configuration window dependingupon the specific capability assigned to the channel and the specificoperation to be performed. An instrument configuration window allows theuser to change the execution properties of the designer item in agraphical manner. In one embodiment, instrument configuration windowsare opened by double-clicking on the corresponding designer item.

Measurement References

A measurement reference is a non-instrument specific operation timeconstraint selected by the user from the designer items toolbox that isplaced onto the channel timeline via a drag-and-drop process that allowsa user to temporally align signal measurements across multiple channels.This adds extra functionality to the temporal alignment described by theposition and size of the designer item as displayed on the channeltimeline. Measurement references allow measurements to be synchronizedwithin an instrument operation, for instance to make a measurement atthe same time of two different signals, regardless of when theacquisition of each signal was originally started. One embodiment of ameasurement reference is a vertical line on the channel timeline towhich the starting time of a measurement may be aligned and ‘locked’.Once ‘locked’, the time a measurement is made will move together with,and be displayed as temporally aligned with, the measurement reference.

Trigger References

A trigger reference is a non-instrument specific operation timeconstraint selected by the user from the designer items toolbox that isplaced onto the channel timeline via a drag-and-drop process that allowsa user to temporally align instrument operations with a greaterprecision than the displayed position and size of the correspondingdesigner item. Normal designer items are temporally aligned within someminimum time division. In one embodiment of the innovation, this timedivision is 10 milliseconds. Time division increments are dependent onCPU processor speeds and instrument instruction latencies. A triggerreference defines a physical connection between two instrumentcapabilities, and configures the designer items associated with thetrigger reference to perform instrument operations using a hardwaretrigger to begin or end based on signals sent over the physicalconnection. One embodiment of a trigger reference is a vertical line onthe channel timeline to which the starting time or ending time of adesigner item may be aligned and ‘locked’. Once ‘locked’, the time theinstrument operation associated with the designer item starts or stopsrespectively will move together with, and be displayed as temporallyaligned with, the trigger reference.

The ATE Test Executive Engine

The engine is the component of the test executive responsible formaintaining temporal coherence of instrument operations while a testprogram is executing. Aspects of the invention already described enablethe user to configure designer items to a specific timing interval. Theengine interprets this information, and executes a test programmaintaining the temporal position of the instrument operationscorresponding to each designer item.

The engine interprets the information configured by the user on thechannel diagram. Each designer item may be associated with one or moreinstrument operations, and the engine converts the user configureddesigner items into the underlying instrument operations whilemaintaining the temporal information configured by the user.

For each test, the engine then uses the configured instrument operationsand the configured temporal positions to execute the test whilemaintaining time coherence. The engine parses the test and stores thetime references at which an instrument operation must occur. At each ofthe stored time reference, each instrument operation configured toexecute at that time reference is performed and the start and stop timeof its execution is noted.

If the current operation is completed before the next time reference atwhich an instrument operation is configured, the engine waits until thatnext time reference. If the end time of the current instrument operationis greater than the desired start time of the next operation, that is ifthe current instrument operation does not complete before the start timeof the next instrument operation, the engine stores the amount of timeexceeded, and immediately runs the next instrument operation. Thus timecoherence of the test is preserved.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/081,083 and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/335,148 are both owned by the assignee of the presentinvention. The contents of both applications are hereby incorporated byreference herein.

Several illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below.It will be recognized that in the manifestation of any such actualembodiment, application-specific conclusions based on developer specificgoals, such as those pertaining to system-related constructs andconstraints, may vary from one implementation to another. While such adevelopment effort might be complex and time consuming, it wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in theare having the benefit of this disclosure.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to construed as preferred or advantageousover other embodiments. Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may bemade, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented herein. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may beimplemented as a method, system, or article of manufacture usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software,firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer toimplement the disclosed subject matter. The term “article ofmanufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any non-transitory computer-readable device, or media.

The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description,drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments maybe utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from thespirit or scope of the subject matter presented here.

FIG. 1 represents an exemplary test station tree 100, as it was capturedin the test executive environment, where all the instruments that arepresent in the system are represented as tree nodes 110. Each instrumentconsists of one or more resources that are represented as child nodes120 of the instrument node 110. Each instrument resource consists of oneor more instrument capabilities that are represented as child nodes 130of the resource node 120. The names of the instrument nodes 110 are userconfigurable. The names of the resource nodes 120 and the names of thecapability nodes 130 are pre-defined and they cannot be changed by theuser.

FIG. 2 represents an exemplary global channel 200 in the context of atest program 210, and in the context of a test 230, as they have beencaptured in the test executive environment. Each channel represents aninstrument/resource/capability. A global channel represents aplaceholder for global operations 250, 260, i.e. operations that areactive outside a test. Test program global channels are placeholders foroperations that can be active for the duration of the entire testprogram. Test Group global channels are placeholders for operations thatcan be active for the duration of the entire test group. As illustratedin this example the global channel represents a DC Power Supply Maximum50V capability on Channel 1 of the instrument. This information can beseen on the channel header 220 and 240. The global channel can beconfigured only at the level at which it has been defined, in ourexample at the test program level 210, and it is un-modifiable at allother levels, as it can be seen in the example where the channel header240 at test level 230 is grayed out. As illustrated in this example, theDC Power Supply on Channel 1 is started by global operation 250 and isactive for the duration of the entire TPS until it is stopped in testnumber 0100 as denoted in 230 by the global operation. 260.

FIG. 3 represents an exemplary of a channel configuration process 300.There are two ways of configuring the channel:

Drag & drop an instrument/resource/capability node (see FIG. 1) on thechannel header 310 Open the channel configuration dialog 320 and drag &drop an instrument/resource/capability node (see FIG. 1) on to thedialog.

After the drag & drop operation, the selected instrument name 330,resource name 340 and capability name 350 are displayed in theconfiguration dialog 320 and in the channel header 310. To fullyconfigure the channel, UUT or ITA pins 370 can be assigned to theinstrument capability pins 360.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary toolbox 400 of designer items that isavailable in the test executive environment. A designer item is thegraphical representation of an operation. For instrument specificoperations the corresponding designer items are grouped based on thetype of the instrument capability. The Analog Palette 410 defines thedesigner items used in conjunction with analog instruments foroperations such as generation of signals, acquisition of signals,measurements of signal characteristics. The Digital Palette 420 definesthe designer items used in conjunction with the digital instruments foroperation such as static stimulus, static response, staticbidirectional, execution of dynamic digital patterns. The Bus Palette430 defines the designer items used in conjunction with bus instrumentsfor operations such as serial transmit, serial receive, serial exchange(transmit/receive). The Switching Palette 440 defines two designer itemsused in conjunction with switching cards, one for the operation thatcloses a switching path, and one for the operation that opens aswitching path. The Procedures Palette 450 defines the designer itemsthat are non-instrument specific. These items are used with operationssuch as external procedure, comparison operation, and repeat operations.Also under non-instrument specific operations there is the UserInput/Output Palette 460 and the Timing and Triggering Palette 470. Theydefine designer items used with operations such as operator input,operator output and trigger and measurement references. These designeritems are dragged & dropped from their toolbox palette on to the channeldiagram to create instrument or non-instrument specific operations.

FIG. 5 represents an exemplary channel diagram 500 of a test as it isdisplayed in the test executive environment. The channel diagram 500consists of one or more channels 510, each channel being a graphicalrepresentation of an instrument capability. Each channel consists of twoparts: the channel header 520, which defines the instrument capabilityassigned to that channel, and the channel timeline 530, where thedesigner items 540 representing instrument operations will be placed ina temporal fashion. The placement of the designer item on the channeltimeline determines the start time 550 of the corresponding instrumentoperation. In addition to this the width of the designer item determinesthe duration and implicitly the stop time of the correspondinginstrument operation. Two or more designer items that are temporallyaligned with their left edges will generate a simultaneous start 560 ofthe corresponding instrument operations. The placement of a triggerreference 570 on the channel diagram defines a physical connectionbetween two instrument capabilities, and configures the designer itemsassociated with the trigger reference to perform instrument operationsusing a hardware trigger to begin or end based on signals sent over thephysical connection. The placement of a measurement reference 580 on thechannel diagram defines a temporal alignment of signal measurementsacross multiple channels, which ensures a synchronization of two or moremeasurements performed on different signals regardless of when theacquisition of each signal was originally started.

FIG. 6 illustrates the two features 600 that control the view mode ofthe channel diagram: a standard graph function zoom in and out 610 thatenables changing the level of magnification of the channel diagram view;a list of pre-defined division sizes 640 that is displayed when userclicks 630 on the combo-box 620 featured in the channel diagram toolbar,allowing the selection of the time per division that controls thegraphical grid on the channel diagram.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary instrument configuration window 700 used to setthe required attributes of an instrument operation. Information specificto the instrument capability 710 to which the “to be configured”operation belong to is displayed in the window title bar and if neededin the top part of the configuration window. For this embodiment of theconfiguration window the attributes that must be set are grouped undertwo categories: attributes that configure the output of the instrument720, such as voltage and current limit level, and attributes thatconfigure the protection of the output 730, such as over voltage limit,if over voltage is enabled or not. All configuration windows allow theexecution of the instrument operation at design time, i.e. after theoperation has been configured. A Run button and a Stop button 750 areprovided for this purpose. This is a powerful feature that enables theuser to verify that the operation attributes have been correctlyspecified, preventing an unexpected run-time error to occur during testprogram execution.

For signal acquisition operations the test executive environment allowsthe definition of measurement operations that will be performed on theacquired signal. Instrument configuration windows vary based on thespecific instrument and the capabilities of that instrument.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of acquisition-based measurements 800.In this illustration the channel headers 810 define instrumentacquisition capabilities thus creating the placeholders, i.e. thechannel timeline for the designer items 820 representing the acquisitionoperations. The example depicted in this figure show two measurements:one that measures the amplitude 830 of the acquired signal, and one thatmeasures the frequency 840 of the acquired signal. The test executiveenvironment provides a configuration dialog 850 where one or a pluralityof acquisition-based measurements may be defined, where their properties860 are set, where the measurement start mode 870 is specified, andwhere the measurement mode 880 is also configured. With regards to thestart modes 870, an acquisition-based measurement can start at specifieddelay relative to the start time of the acquisition operation, or at thetime determined by the measurement reference with which the measurementoperation is aligned to. With regards to the measurement mode 880, ameasurement can be in verify mode, which indicates that at run-time theresult of the measurement will be compared with limits, or in monitormode, which indicates that the measurement will run continuously atrun-time until a desired measurement value is obtained.

FIG. 9 represents the flowchart of the algorithm 900 used by the testexecutive engine to maintain the temporal alignment of the instrumentoperations at run-time. This algorithm is applied to every test; thetiming of test operations is reset at the beginning of each testexecution 910. Each instrument operation is timed 920 and the configuredstart time of the next instrument operation determined 930 before thecurrent instrument operation executes 940. The actual time when thecurrent instrument operation has completed is compared 950 with theconfigured start time of the next instrument operation to determine ifthe current instrument operation has executed in a timely fashion. Ifthe duration of current operation exceeded configured time, it ran overthe start time of the next operation then the test executive engineadjusts the start time of the remaining operations and immediatelystarts the execution of the next instrument operation. If the currentinstrument operation ran in its configured time then the test executiveengine executes a software delay 960 to wait if necessary until thestart time of the next instrument operation is reached, and then repeatsthis entire process for the remaining instrument operations of thecurrent test.

For a better understanding of the algorithm described in FIG. 9, agraphical representation of this algorithm 1000 is illustrated in FIG.10. The first diagram 1010 illustrates the test executive engineintroducing software delays 1030 to ensure that each instrumentoperation starts at the configured time. This is the case where allinstrument operations run in their configured time. The second diagram1020 illustrates an instrument operation “A” exceeding its configuredduration 1040 and causing the remaining operations to have their starttime adjusted in order to maintain their temporal alignment.

FIG. 11 illustrates how the test executive engine converts 1100 the userconfigured designer items into the underlying instrument operations1110, 1140 while maintaining the temporal information configured by theuser. The placement of the left edge of the designer item on the channeltimeline represents the start time of the underlying instrumentoperation. In one embodiment the left edge of a designer itemrepresenting an analog stimulus operation 1110 is converted at run-timeby the test executive engine into a start signal generation 1120. In asimilar fashion the placement of the right edge of the designer itemrepresents the end time of the underlying instrument operation. In thesame embodiment the right edge of the designer item is converted atrun-time into a stop signal generation 1130. The time when theseoperations occur is defined by the placement of these edges on thechannel timeline. In another embodiment the left edge of the designeritem representing an analog acquisition operation 1140 is converted atrun-time into an initiate acquisition 1150, and the right edge of thisdesigner item is converted at run-time into a fetch operation 1160. Thetime when these operations occur is defined by the placement of theseedges on the channel timeline.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed forpurposes of illustration, it should be understood that various changes,modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in the embodimentwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined bythe claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for providing user created test programsfor automatic test equipment (ATE), comprising: a graphical interfacedisplay responsive to a user's interaction and/or instructions forproducing ATE operation instructions wherein the display includes aplurality of channels representing coherent time domain timelines, aplurality of first icons available to the user from a plurality thereofrepresenting channel headers, for application to the graphical display;a plurality of second icons available to the user from a pluralitythereof for application to the graphical display representing differentdesigner items for various ATE test operations; and a test executiveprocessor responsive to the user defined graphical display for carryingout selected ATE test operations in a coherent time domain manner. 2.The system of claim 1, including a plurality of third icons available tothe user from a plurality thereof representing a measurement referencefor the test operations and a plurality of fourth icons available to theuser from a plurality thereof representing a trigger reference for thetest operations.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the selection of theapplication of the first, second, third and fourth icons to thegraphical display is accomplished by a “drag-and-drop” operation.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein each channel include a channel header and achannel timeline.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the channel headerdefines the instrument capability assigned to that channel.
 6. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the designer item operation is placed intothe channel timeline.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the designeritem is limited by instrument capability defined by the channel header.8. The system of claim 3 wherein the drag-and-drop measurement referencecomprises adding the measurement reference to one of a plurality ofdesigner item operations, including interactively updating propertiesspecific to said measurement reference including a label and a starttime.
 9. The system of claim 3, wherein the drag-and-drop operation of atrigger reference comprises adding the trigger reference to one of aplurality of channel timeline and interactively updating the triggerreference including a label and a start time.
 10. The system of claim 1,wherein unit under test pins are assigned to the channel headerinstrument capability.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the instrumentoperation on the channel timeline can be resized to reconfigure theexecution time of the test operation.
 12. The system of claim 1, whereinthe shape and color of the icons identify the type of test operation.13. The system of claim 1, wherein each channel is assigned a singleinstrument capability or operation.
 14. The system of claim 1, whereinnon-instrument operations can be placed on any channel.
 15. The systemof claim 1, wherein a user may define on the graphical display aplurality of switching paths between unit under test pins and instrumentcapability pins.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein each channeltimeline is displayed in a temporally aligned manner.
 17. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the graphical display includes a zoom or pancapability.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes agrid display which sets out intervals of time during which instrumentoperations must be performed.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein thechannel timeline displays the start time and duration time of eachdesigner item operation.
 20. The system of claim 1, including aninstrument configuration window wherein execution properties for aselected operation are configurable by the user.
 21. The system of claim2, wherein the measurement reference capability allows the user totemporally align signal measurements across multiple channels allowingmeasurements to be synchronized so as to make a measurement at the sametime of two different signals regardless of when the acquisition of eachsignal originally started.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein themeasurement reference is shown as a vertical line on the channeltimeline display.
 23. The system of claim 1, including a time constantthat allows the user to temporally align instrument operations with agreater particularity than the corresponding available designeroperation.
 24. The system of claim 2, wherein the trigger reference isshown as a vertical line on the channel timeline to which a start timeor ending time of a selected designer operation may be aligned andlocked.
 25. The system of claim 1, wherein attributes of an instrumentoperation can be specified by the user and wherein said attributes canbe verified to prevent a run-time error.
 26. The system of claim 1,wherein the designer item operations are grouped in accordance with thetype of instrument capability, including an analog capability, a digitalcapability and a bus capability.
 27. The system of claim 1, including atime control function wherein if duration of a current operation exceedsits configured time, the processor adjusts the start time of theremaining test operations and then starts the execution of the nextoperation, and if the duration of the current test operation is lessthan its configured time then the processor executes a delay until thestart time of the next instrument operation is reached.
 28. The systemof claim 1, wherein temporal alignment is maintained by using a leftedge of a designer graphical icon as a start signal, and the right edgeof a designer graphical icon as an end time of the operation, such thatthe operation is temporally aligned by the placement of the edges of thedesigner operation icons on the channel timeline.
 29. A method forproviding user created test programs for automatic test equipment (ATE),comprising the steps of: providing a graphical display responsive to auser's interaction and/or instructions for producing ATE operationinstructions wherein the display includes a plurality of channelsrepresenting coherent time domain timelines; providing a plurality offirst icons available to the user from a plurality thereof representingchannel headers, for application to the graphical display; providing aplurality of second icons available to the user from a plurality thereoffor application to the graphical display representing different designeritems for various ATE test operations; and processing the user definedgraphical display to carry out selected ATE test operations in acoherent time domain manner.
 30. The method of claim 29, including thestep of providing a plurality of third icons available to the user froma plurality thereof representing a measurement reference for the testoperations and the step of providing a plurality of fourth iconsavailable to the user from a plurality thereof representing a triggerreference for the test operations.
 31. The method of claim 30, whereinthe selection of the application of the first, second, third and fourthicons to the graphical display is accomplished by a “drag-and-drop”operation.
 32. The method of claim 30, wherein each channel includes achannel header and a channel timeline.
 33. The method of claim 32,wherein the channel header defines the instrument capability assigned tothat channel.
 34. The method of claim 32, wherein the designer itemoperation is placed into the channel timeline.
 35. The method of claim33, wherein the designer item is limited by the instrument capabilitydefined by the channel header.
 36. The method of claim 30, wherein theinstrument operation on the channel timeline can be resized toreconfigure the execution time of the test operation.
 37. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the shape and color of the icons identify the type oftest operation.
 38. The method of claim 30, wherein each channeltimeline is displayed in a temporally aligned manner.
 39. The method ofclaim 26, including a grid display which sets out intervals of timeduring which instrument operations must be performed.
 40. The method ofclaim 26, wherein the channel timeline displays the start time andduration time of each designer item operation.
 41. The method of claim31, wherein the measurement reference capability allows the user totemporally align signal measurements across multiple channels allowingmeasurements to be synchronized so as to make a measurement at the sametime of two different signals regardless of when the acquisition of eachsignal originally started.
 42. The method of claim 30, whereinattributes of an instrument operation can be specified by the user andwherein said attributes can be verified to prevent a run-time error. 43.The method of claim 30, wherein the designer item operations are groupedin accordance with the type of instrument capability, including ananalog capability, a digital capability and a bus capability.
 44. Themethod of claim 26, including a time control function wherein ifduration of a current operation exceeds its configured time, theprocessor adjusts the start time of the remaining test operations andthen starts the execution of the next operations, and if the duration ofthe current test operation if less that its configured time then theprocessor executes a delay until the start time of the next instrumentoperation reached.
 45. The method of claim 31 wherein the drag-and-dropmeasurement reference comprises adding the measurement reference to oneof a plurality of designer item operations, including interactivelyupdating properties specific to said measurement reference including alabel and a start time.
 46. The method of claim 31, wherein thedrag-and-drop operation of a trigger reference comprises adding thetrigger reference to one of a plurality of channel timeline andinteractively updating the trigger reference including a label and astart time.
 47. The method of claim 29, wherein unit under test pins areassigned to the channel header instrument capability.